In awe of the Dark Knight

Super heroes to me are the secret desires of every common man. The powers we secretly wished for, the things we wanted to do, the help we wanted to give, the fears we wanted to conquer, the risks we wanted to take!

Their creators are common men who put in everything to make them achieve what we could not; perhaps that is the reason why they are so popular in comics, in television serials and in movies. People want to re-write their stories and we yearn for some more to come.

But, often the creators forget to bring in the reality of life; that life is not always fair, even to the blessed ones. We have often tried to escape this harsh truth and Chris Nolan hits you in the face with this truth alone.
With greatness come hidden truths and hidden tragedies, which we fail to see or we do not want to see. Nolan in his outstanding depiction of the Batman Story depicts this thought to a tee.

The Dark Knight is not your typical super hero movie. X-men had a few deaths and Spiderman-3 tried to tread into the grey areas, even Harry Potter got darker in the later books but they did not hit the viewer hard with such a harsh dose of life’s reality!

I’m not sure the The Dark Knight is for kids viewing. I’m not sure they will appreciate the somber mood which shadows the film throughout. But if you have enjoyed Batman Begins, then you will probably love this one.


Gotham is cursed with endless crimes, desperation and poverty. Gordon, Harvey Kent, Rachael Dawes, Bruce Wayne fighting their own battles to make this a better place. Just when they are succeeding they hit upon Joker. A criminal whose sole aim is to create chaos! He craves no money, he craves no fame; he only craves for chaos and a world without rules.

He is unpredictable, not even the great batman can predict his next move and that is exactly why he supersedes all villains till date! Heath Ledger makes the Joker immortal! This one will live in memory for a long, long time and I doubt if there will be anyone who will surpass this man’s performance. What a tragedy he is no more. Hollywood’s loss is irreparable.

Christian Bale is excellent and so do others excel in their parts. Chris Nolan deals out lavish sets, awesome gizmo gadgets and a terrific intelligent plot. You can hardly make out what’s going to happen next.

He dishes out reality more than fiction and the movie builds in and plays on your worst fears.
It is grim, it’s hard hitting and it leaves you wishing you never want to be in the Batman’s shoes.


Imagine being blamed for the deaths of loved ones, imagine being the target of hatred of the people you have loved, imagine being the cause of the destruction of the city you have always tried to save, imagine being the hunted for the crimes never committed!

Imagine being THE DARK KNIGHT!


P.S: Chris Nolan, Christian Bale & Heath Ledger. Sir, we take a bow!!!

The Wonder Years……..

That is exactly how I would sum up my college years and Jaane Tu Ya….Jaane Na refreshes those memories in the most simplest of ways.
The thing about stories is,, not how interesting stories in themselves are; but how interesting the story-teller tells them. Abbas Tyrewalla excels in this; this time adding up as a director too. MunnaBhai was no fluke and this man has loads of talent!

If you have had a close knit circle of friends you will identify with JTYJN. They say school friends bond for life but college friends probably see you in the worst and best of your times. And in all that chaos, some of them last you a lifetime. Atleast mine have;-)

College time is time of revelation about life, love, relationships & friendships. It is the most interesting and the most confusing phase in one’s life. You sail through it with laughter and sadness, with a smile and a tear, knowing very well the memories will be with you forever. Memories, bitter and sweet, kept locked in one corner of your mind, only to revisit them when you need to smile.
Those crazy bickerings, those inane arguments, the fun-loving picnics, the stupid surprises, those heart-breaking crushes!

JTYJN revives all the above memories. Abbas Tyrewala tells our story and that is the biggest USP of the film. Is everyone telling me the story is about a certain Jai and Aditi? Hell, I think it is a story of us. Some of us were lucky to find love in friendship, some lucky to find friendship in love. Well it might not be entirely our story; but parts of it we all will most definitely identify with.

For the sheer simplicity and freshness of all characters, JTYJN is a must watch. Aditi is a lovable brat; I identify cause of the rebellious streak in her! Jai is the kind of guy I’d hate to take home cause my parents would wonder what went wrong with our daughter; a thought summed up to the tee by Aditi’s brother Amit. Jignesh and Rotlu ought to have existed in your college group and so must’ve Bombs and Shaleen. You would’ve met a Meghna and Sushant as well. The characters are so well etched and that is what makes this film so lovable.

Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah excel and their rapport is to watch out for! But, I’m neither going to write about the characters in detail nor about the script. There are tons of film critics who will do that.

Before I take off, the dialogues come as a fresh of breath air; stating the obvious, is what all this film is about and the following are just a small proof of that:

When Jai says, "Yaar 12 baj gaya"; Bagheera asks him,"Kyun kya hua, Tu Cindrella Hain kya?"

When college is over and Aditi comes to drop Jai; she realises that tomorrow there will be no college and goes crying to Jai’s house. She then says to Jai’s mom, “Aunty pata hi nahi chala college ke 5 saal kahan chale gaye”. Jai’s mom( aka Ratna Pathak Shah) sums up in one line ( a fact vouched by mothers of the world) “Phone pe Beta, phone pe”

So here are my 2 cents, don’t miss this movie if you wish to relive your college days!!


P.S: A special mention to Pratiek Patil (playing the character of Amit). His small cameo does ample of justice to his mother’s genes. Here is a guy to watch our for!

Chak de India….It’s what dreams are made of!

I had caught the trailer of 'Çhak De India' when I went for Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. In that one minute piece, the shots of the hockey matches impressed me. Though it was still a Shahrukh movie; I knew I had to catch it before the reviews hit the media.
And I did, being in Dubai gives you that advantage as the movies release here on Thursday , a day before in India!

I did not go with as high expectations as Lagaan & Iqbal. Chak De India might not fit in their league but it’s an out and out sports movie on the lines of the Mighty Ducks series! And yes it also highlights what girls/women in India go through irrespective of the strata of the society they belong to.

Chak De India is a story about a fallen hero, regaining his honour from his countrymen. It is about 16 girls fighting themselves, fighting politics in the game, fighting society, fighting their own demons within. It’s a story about the sports situation in the country where states still rule the nation. It’s a story about how society still deals with women.

Shahrukh excels beyond par. And it means something when it comes from me, who is no Shahrukh fan! And no he is not doing what Aamir did in Lagaan. Chak De & Lagaan can’t be compared simply cause they are two different stories, with complete different backdrops.
Shahrukh is sincere in his portrayal of Kabir Khan, his anguish when the nation scorns him, his willingness to fight the system, his love for the game, his helplessness when he can’t step onto the field to play, his toughness in dealing with the girls, his earnestness in building a winning team and finally his disbelief when he overcomes his demons and wins the battle.

The casting might not be the perfect one for the girls, but the bunch does a good job at the end. Preethi Sabharwal is attractive and confident, Komal is brash and knows she is good, Bindya is arrogant, Aliya Bose is striking, Gunjan is the pacifier, Vidya has enough to deal with her personal problems yet is the most focussed of the lot, Balbir Kaur is what our women teams need, atleast one of her kind. The rest have little dialogues but impress in their little parts.

How they struggle to come together as one team, setting aside their personal glories. They are all haunted by their own demons like jealousy, ego, pride, fear, lack of self-belief, anger, dissent, indiscipline, and most of all minimal support from people they love. Vidya from a normal middle-class family is pressurised to quit and come attend the family wedding, while Preethi from the upper class family, engaged to a high-profile cricketer gets her own dose of male ego from him. The Hockey association is as usual less supportive of them anyways.
They fight and they overcome it all, thanks to their coach Kabir.

On the technical front, I loved the second half, the World Cup tournament is shot well. Sure there were still gaps but it’s a fine effort by the director. It’s a good film to follow after his ‘Ab Tak Chappan’. He should also be given some credit for I’m sure most people are now going to take interest in hockey: men's or women's. The film will do some good to our neglected national sport! Finally, some kudos to Yash Raj Films as well, after dishing out endless glossy unrealistic movies, here is one film they should be really proud of!

Most might feel it's not in the league of a Lagaan or Iqbal but it still can get a place behind them in terms of the subject and the execution.

And before I leave, take a bow to Shahrukh Khan! It was nice to see the sincere and natural effort, Shahrukh’s Kabir Khan will be in memory for a long, long time along with Abhimanyu Rai(Fauji), Raj Malhotra(DDLJ) and Mohan Bhargava(Swades). He was and is the soul of this movie and takes it to success boldly on his shoulders!

So go watch it once, it is the kind of stuff dreams are made of!

P.S.: My favourite scene in the film has nothing to do with hockey, it's the one where the team goes to Mcdonald's and ends up bashing a gang of eve-teasers wihout any help from a male!! Oh boy I can bet every girl alive will love that scene! Oh ya that's one scene I would've loved to be part of!

Because He Loves Me....

I've been waiting to get my first vacation since landing in Dubai. The first destination was but obviously my good old Mumbai. I do not know how I've survived a good whole year without seeing that place. Anyways, mumma planned her London trip and UK trip along with my niece to my sister's place. That put me pretty much in a dilemma about my vacation , and after much contemplation I decided to plan a trip to UK.

Now at this point, a month back, I could not force MDH to join on my vacation as he wanted to save all his holidays for his younger sister's wedding scheduled in Dec this year. Though I would miss him, I still did not pester him to join. I can be a very stubborn and adamant girl but this time I wasn't. But, he did come around with me for my shopping despite his hectic schedules and prime office events.

Work was getting quite hectic (as always) before I was leaving for my vacation. I was spending long hours at the office to wrap up most of my work. In the meanwhile, MDH's business trip to South Africa got planned during the same period as my trip. That was quite a reflief for

me as it meant that he too would enjoy visiting a new country along with his work.

He then asked me for the visa application procedure for UK as his friend was travelling there. I detailed the entire application to him. One day he asked me if it was okay to give one of our suitcases to a friend as he was off on trip as well. Since this guy is a close friends of ours, I was more than willing to help. I was to leave on 17th May, Friday. The suitcase was gone by Tuesday.

On the day I was leaving, like usual I was late from office. Bags all packed , I was quite surprised to see the house in shape to lock it up. MDH informed me that he was to leave early the next day. I had one more worry on my head though, before leaving in the evening I had noticed a huge amount debited to my credit card, I could not see the details and told MDH to check for it. He did not let me do it that evening and told me he would take care of it the next day.

Our friend arrived at 10.00 p.m. to pick me up and I saw our suitcase lying in his deck, he said I will take it up to my house when I'm getting ready to leave. I said fine. Then MDH and his friend started planning a late night show of Metro after dropping me. I was quite sad cause I really did wanted to see that movie. Another friend of ours who came to see me off, tried consoling me by saying that the UK trip was far more important than a film.

So there we landed at the airport and I was about to take off when MDH caught me and said I got something for you. I said, so where is my parting gift. He kept a piece of paper in my hand, it was e-ticket for BA flight 106 to London. I looked at it and said I know that I'm allowed 23Kg luggage, he said look at the name again!

I saw his name and freaked out. His business trip was his vacation with me to London. He had planned the entire thing out after much coaxing from his friends and my sister was his partner in crime. The friend who was travelling to UK was him, the suitcase was gone for him. The huge drift in my credit card bill was his ticket since our cards are billed together!!!

The clues were all there but I simply did not take any, cause he had convinced me well that he would not make the trip.

This was my best surprise ever!!!! He has surprised me in many a ways till date, ever since we started dating. This was totally unexpected but so much like him. Only he could think of doing this. I don't even come 0.00001% close to surprising him.

Sure we fight like all couples, sure we love each other like all other couples, but I can tell one thing for sure with that his surprises are unique and none I know have received likewise!

He does priceless things like these which I treasure the most in our relationship. At the end of it all, he has and will always bring a smile to my face.

That's why over and above being a great husband he makes one hell of a best friend to me!!!!

Déjà vu…Part II

The world cup 2007 is finally coming to an end, and for me, since ’91 this has been probably the most boring one I’ve seen. Reason one but obviously India’s ouster in the first stage. Reason two: It is too long a world cup, 6 weeks is just too long. Having not watched each and every match as I have in the previous cups this one will remain least etched in my memory.

Like 2003 Aussies look unbeatable and have not been challenged so far. I thought that SA and NZ would drive them to the wall but the two most likely teams to have upset the Aussies were decimated by them in style. It speaks a word or two in the zone the Aussies are and the way they are playing cricket. The losses to England and NZ prior to the world cup was just a lapse on their part.

I love the Aussies, always have since I started watching this game. They play this game to win. They play it in their own style and are not ruffled by what others are doing. They might lose but they do not care; they stick to their nature and more often than not it has helped them come out victorious. It is such a pleasure to watch them play because they bring nothing but smiles to your face. They have established their own brand of playing cricket and the way to defeat them is not to copy their style but etch your own style and beat them. Cause you cannot better them at their own game. Tell me who will not love the Aussies.

They do not miss the Waugh brothers, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Shane Warne. Gilchrist’s out of form performance has not affected their game even 1%, Shaun Tait is ready to take over from McGrath while Michael Clarke is already being touted as captaincy material. Mike Hussey has been relatively quiet but his performances have spoken for themselves. The team is not being arrogant by not feeling the pinch of the stars but it just shows how good their bench strength is to deliver the same results in absence of these power houses. Full credit to them and sure they deserve to win.

SL on the other hand has been the quiet performer. I did not meet one person who placed them in the finals with the Aussies before this world cup began. SA, NZ, WI and even India were being named but not the Lankan Lions. What a performance! Every single person in this team has contributed in every match. The young guns have come out and done their land proud. Jayasurya can relax and retire in peace. There is Tharanga, Chamra Silva, Dilshan Tilakratne, the ever reliable Jaywardane. The bowling has been top class. Vaas I never doubted him, and he one Lankan I’ve always loved to watch, even against India. Malinga , Mahroof and Murali make the bowling look unbeatable and the Aussies have not had a look at the SL bowlers in the league match what with Vaas, Murali & Malinga all rested. Not a bad ploy was it even if it cost them the match. Their fielding matches up to the best in the world and I see no reason why this team won’t let the Aussies sleep tight before the big day.

This world cup has been full of Déjà vu, India’s loss to SL (my earlier post), SA-AUS semi final( like in 1999), though it did not match up to the thriller like the earlier one, and now the ’96 final match-up! We just have to wait and see if history repeats again!

On a personal note though, this cup has been the most disappointing one for me. I’ve rarely failed in my predictions so far, rarely lost a bet on cricket but this time around I think I’m losing my touch! I expected India to make it atleast to the semis, did not happen. I then backed my next favourite team, the Black Caps cause they were playing some real good cricket only to see them have their bad day in the semis against the Lankans. I definitely did not want SA to win cause I don’t think it was a great cup for them and besides I do not like their current team. They seem a little short on the sportsmanship and the right spirit to play the game; the biggest culprit being Andre Nell.

SL has never been a favourite with me. They are good bunch of players but they have always irked me, and I have no reason to justify it. Aussies, though I love them, I’m now tired of seeing them win day in and out. For me this final is a Catch 22 situation where I do not want to support any team but I would not mind if either one wins. Aussies cause they deserve to, they have been awesome for the last ten years. SL cause they should win against Aussies; as the Aussies have never given them their due respect.

It’s McGrath’s and Murali-Jayasurya’s last calling; I would want the latter to answer to it first!

I’ll be watching the final today, I hope you all do. And yes do let me know whom you are supporting this time around.

Déjà vu…

Am I at a loss for words on yesterday’s performance? No I’m not!! I’ve so much to say that I think I’ll take up Terabytes raised to n space on the web!
I normally do not react badly to India’s losses. If you’ve been watching them play for the last 16 years and have had a lovely set of rational fans around you, it ensures that you do not react to losses as any other normal fan would. I mean it’s simply a game why make a fuss about it.

I remember the WC losses against Aus in ’92, SL in semi-final in Kolkatta ’96 and the huge plundering against Aus in ’03 in the league match.

I still remember the ’92 match as a victory because we put up an awesome fight. Neither will I forget Azhar’s 93 and Manjrekar’s 47 nor will I forget Srinath’s blunder. It was a strong reminder for me that this guy will never ever think when he plays, he always proved me right!
But it was a wonderful match, yes the loss by one run broke my heart but the respect for the team grew ten folds.

In the ’96 semi-final, when I saw the crowds react the way they did I had asked my dad why are they reacting this way? Sure we made a mess of it by some crazy decisions but come on we reached the semis, didn’t we? Was that not creditable enough, considering we never had a chance to even make it to the final four?

After the ’03 league match thumping, when effigies were burnt I was wondering what is wrong with the junta, it’s only a league match, we are not out of the cup and we have so many matches to perform!
We have seen worse losses than this.

But this time around I will not put any sort of rationale to the team’s defeat. There isn’t any to put. I’m trying to see if there are any positives, if we gave it our best, if we put up a fight. The answer to all is ZILCH, ZERO, NIL, NOTHING!

What a shameful surrender it was! Did it not remind you of the ’96 semi-final? But then there was some consolation that we had made it to the semi-final after a strong performance against Pak in the quarters. But the scripts were almost similar:

• Both times India won the toss
• Both put SL to bat, in pressure games
• Jayasurya was out early in both the games
• Both times Silvas (Aravinda-96 and Chamara here) stole the game
• Similar achievable targets (252then and 255 now)and a similar collapse…

Sigh too much of a Déjà Vu and that too at an early stage in the WC!

I dunno where to begin actually. Sure it was a great batting pitch in the second innings but it was not a pitch where we could bowl the opposition under 200 after they are put into bat first. We do not have the bowlers to do that. Though we bowled much better than we did against Bangladesh it was not good enough cause I think we gave away 20-30 runs too many at the end.

I did not see any determination in the players on the field to win the match. There was no urgency, no energy! They seemed to go through the motions as if it was another match. Yes it is only a match but your Cup future depended on it and I don’t think that realisation dawned upon them.

I feel like a fool now for having shown so much faith in the team and betting with my friends that yes they will beat SL and make it to the super 8. Mind you if this match was a do-die situation in the Super 8 or semis or finals and we had lost I would’ve been disappointed but not hurt. I would’ve known they had fought and got that far but this was shameful. You could not even put up a fight!

So 255 seemed a gettable target however I always get a good feeling if we gonna win or not and somehow that feeling had faded away when Vaas hit 14 of an over off Munaf. I kept cribbing to my husband that these last runs are not good for us and he said you are just over reacting, wait and watch.

Then I saw Uthappa and Ganguly start off, and there was nothing in their body language that inspired confidence in me that we would win. Every player who walked in had the same language. Not interested, not keen, not willing to put up a fight. Uthappa got out to a rash shot, Ganguly to one that was not needed, Sehwag the lesser said the better, I was never for him being in the team for this cup so let me not say anything more.
Time and again against SL it is a very simple ploy, play out Vaas and Murali and then its easy to tackle others. If Ganguly, Dravid and Sachin won’t last till Murali comes into play how does one expect Dhoni & Yuvraj to tackle him especially Yuvraj who dances even to a Galli spinner!

The most heartbreaking though was Sachin’s dismissal and I’m not ashamed to proclaim that I almost cried when I saw it. He did not understand Fernando’s delivery at all, he simply had no clue and out to a duck. That hurt me more than the defeat, it really did. And only the die-hard Sachin fans will understand my sentiment here.

What a meek surrender. In both the matches we lost the batsmen did not last the whole 50 overs nor did they cross the 200 mark and that clearly shows who faltered. This was a problem for us the whole of last year and we did nothing about it.

I’m not going to get into the blame game or point fingers. I could care less cause the entire exercise is not worth it. If the players are not bothered about winning I wonder why we are breaking our hearts over it?

But one word to Mr. Chappell the great. Read this in his interview on cricinfo.com: “I’m not answerable to anyone but the BCCI”
For your kindest information Mr. Chappell, first and foremost you are answerable to every Indian cricket fan in the world. If it weren’t for them there would be no money in the game, there would be no BCCI sitting on a gold mine, there would be no way your huge pay packet would come through, there would be no sponsors, there would be no players raised to the status of demi-gods, there would be no advertisements for these players to mint money. So before you make statements like that please get a grip of the game in India. I think everyone would agree with me on that you and your team are fist and foremost answerable to the Indian cricket fans all over the world and you better know that!

Oh yes and I’m proclaiming loud and clear that I’m off Indian cricket for sometime now. Not cricket mind you, only Indian cricket. Aus, SA, NZ, WI have given me enough to cheer for them in this WC so if anyone wants me to go off cricket that’s not happening as long the game is being played well. If India does not want to do it why should I quit watching the game. I’d rather they quit playing it!

So before I end, now it’s time to pray for Bermuda’s win and whole lot of prayers will go into it. But as for me I’ll pray that Bangladesh wins cause more than India they deserve to go to the Super 8. And if Bermuda wins, the Indian team, if it has an ounce of dignity and self-respect left, should allow Bermuda to proceed to the Super 8 cause we definitely don’t deserve to be there!
Do that and yes I’ll be proud of you.

You were never unlucky cause you never gave it your best. This post would’ve never happened from me if I felt you had tried your best. You know it in your hearts you simply did not!

This will be hard for me to forget but not for the board back home. There are talks of a major overhaul. Who will they drop? Dravid, Saurav, Sachin, Dhoni, Sehwag, Yuvraj? None, they could not drop Sehwag after 2 yrs of pathetic performance they don’t have the guts to drop any one of the above. They will land up sacking Irfan, Shreesanth, Uthappa, Kartik, Agarkar (the perennial scapegoat). There will be no major overhaul and things will go ahead as before.

Don’t expect a thing! That is the sad story of Indian cricket!


P.S: And on another note….GO Bangladesh!! Praying hard that you all win.

A Shocking Beginning…

On seeing the WC schedule I had thought to myself that I can relax the till the super eight stage cause the first round seemed a waste of time to me with unknown teams like Ireland Bermuda, Netherlands( sure they played the last cup but who remembers!),Canada, Scotland being involved in the WC.
Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties a saying so well-known it’s almost cliché to use it now! But time and again this saying is proved right and this time the little minnows were the ones who proved it right. I can bet my life not one cricket fan would’ve predicted Pakistan’s ouster in the first round, not one die-hard Indian fan would’ve expected defeat in the first match against Bangladesh and not even the Bangladeshi supporters would’ve expected their team to beat two big guns back to back. NZ in the warm up and India in the first match of the opening round!!! No one and if someone tells me he or she did they are lying through the roof!!!

Pakistan’s ouster was a shocker and I’m yet to recover from it. No WC is good without an India –Pak tie and yes I wanted to see my team keep their WC record intact of being unbeatable against Pak. It was definitely not their best side that they have fielded for the cup and Asif-Shoaib would’ve made hell of a difference. But to be not able to get past Ireland was tough to digest. As much as the batsmen should be blamed for the loss I must give it to Ireland for pulling an incredible performance in both the matches. No one thought they would win but as of now they are leading their group table! First the tie against Zim and then a victory against Pak. They sure have the made the entire cricketing world sit up and take notice of them. And honestly I was seeing the highlights I liked that guy Neil O' Brien. He single-handedly tackled the Pak attack with confidence. Good footwork and solid shots. They sure have a long way to go but this man did make mark!

Australia, SL and SA started off in pompous style much to our expectations and Gibbs’s sixes against Netherlands sure brought a smile to my face. It’s not against the best cricketing nation but a record is a record and with so many non-test playing nations involved these will come abound. But what the heck savour it! It does not come often and whether against top class or bottom class teams six 6s in six consecutive balls is no mean feat; proven by the fact that it is the first time in international cricket. Sobers and Shastri hold the record in first-class fixtures, so give the guy some due

I loved the way WI won. They were really struggling but having seen them hit 230 odd from 3 an over in the 20th over, I told my husband that it seems a good total to defend on a slow pitch and I’m glad they proved me right. Pakistan can only blame themselves for both the losses.

And coming to my dear team India, I felt like a fool when people asked about our chances and I proudly said yes I see them in the final four. I would still like to stand by it. Considering our record against SL in the recent past, I actually feel we can win. As for the match against Bangladesh, the lesser said the better. The batting is clearly a problem and as much as Sehwag has got a century as I’m writing this article I still feel he will struggle against the better attacks! The batsmen got to get their act right and yes if someone is near the team can you please pass on a message to our bowler that an offside- middle stump line exists when you bowl. They only seemed to see the leg-stump! How they miss the basics often really surprises me.
The only positive so far is Saurav Ganguly. I so wanted to write since his comeback that his batting and attitude has been refreshing. That is exactly what I wanted of him and a little late but it has come at the best time. He is old self and seems to enjoy his batting. He is relaxed, his feet are moving well and he is confident. There is no clutter in his head and things are clear. Batting like a dream, now only if he would continue throughout the innings and not give it up the way he did against Bangladesh.

While on India, ‘Inconsistency is Thy Name’, as my husband always puts it! Bowled out under 200 against minnows now they thrash Bermuda to get a WC record of highest runs in an innings! It is possible only with us in back to back matches!
The latest match has been halted by rain as I write this. Why am I not surprised? One, because rain gods have never favoured us, and second, we did bring it upon ourselves to this situation. So if this is a washout with no reserve day in place India will bid goodbye to the WC and then I’m left wondering for commercial reasons this WC will be in a soup! No Pakistan, no India it’s not a good thing for the WC organisers!
But Tendulkar entertained, and so did Yuvraj, but sending Dhoni and him ahead of Sachin. Not done, simply not done because the little master is in a good nick! Sometimes I feel we leave our brains behind in experimenting unnecessary things. Too much of anything is not good and India better realise that sooner than later!

Apart from the all of the above the most rude shock of the WC, Bob Woolmer’s Death. A fine, fine coach and I was completely aghast at the news. That it came one day after Pak’s ouster leaves me wondering if the pressure and stress got to him. The cricket world will miss him; the teams will miss him the most. He had so much to offer to the game in him. May his soul rest in peace.

The End of My Era....

Long hiatus, no explanations just that setting in to work and this city did take my time off from my writing! No promises to keep this going regularly but yes the world cup will get me writing more frequently than before!

The world cup begins today. Sadly the opening ceremony will be missed due to the unearthly timings of the telecast. My interest in the ODIs is going down day by day, thanks to the growing predictable and uneventful nature of the matches involved and the WC long format is not going to help my case either. However seeing the performance of the some of the teams in the last month I sure am not placing my bets on the winner right away. That could make up for another article!

So before I go onto preview matches and predict winners, here is the real reason for writing the article. In ’91 when I started watching cricket, taking serious interest in it, catching the old matches missed on all possible channels, I saw a whole lot of players emerge and become reckoning forces in the world of cricket. Seeing their amazing displays on the field, the thought of them ever quitting the game never struck my mind. It still does not, despite the fact being there right in front of my eyes, I just turn a blind eye to it.

They were players from my era! Having seen them play for the last fifteen years. I saw my friends have crushes on them, I remember making fun of them for not understanding their game, I remember having long debates and discussions with the guys over who is the better player and who was not playing upto his potential, discussing their awesome display of talent time and again.

They excited, they enthralled, they entertained, they charmed, they made me smile! The game will not be the same again. Yes it has been said before, new players have emerged and I’m not denying that better might emerge too, but these will always be special because they were one of the reason my cricket interest grew.

Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble, Lara, Jayasurya, Inzy, McGrath, Pollock, Gilchrist, Fleming, Ponting. Cricket will not be the same again!


It still feels like only yesterday when:

• I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to see young Sachin rock the NZ shores in ’94 blasting 84 of 49 balls when he opened first.
• I saw Inzy being run-out by Rhodes in ’92 WC and kept wondering if he would ever create a World record for the same, but realising Pakistan had been blessed with a talent.
• I saw a young man from the WI battle out with ease the Aussie attack and hit a masterpiece 277 to lead WI to victory. Lara won many a matches in the years to come single-handedly and I think he leads every great batmen of his era in this aspect!
• I saw McGrath bowl super straight relentlessly time and again leading to the destruction of every batsmen who faced him
• I was left zapped by the maddening batting display of Jayasurya in the ’96 WC who redefined opening batting in ODIs and made the cricket ball defy the laws of gravity.
• I saw Gilchrist come at the top order and thrash bowlers all around the park
• I saw Ponting take charge of Steve’s team and lead them to a dominating victory in the ’03 WC keeping the Aussie flag flying high.
• I saw Kumble take the Golden 10 against Pakistan
• I saw Ganguly dance down the wicket at Taunton and beat Kapil’s long standing record of highest ODI Score
• I saw Dravid turn into a valuable ODI player in ’99 WC with his back to back hundreds only to end up as the best man in both matches
• I saw Fleming’s shrewd captaincy lead NZ to an unforgettable victory agaisnt Aus from a no-win situation in the VB series 2001.
• I saw Pollock carry his dad and uncle’s legacy ably on his shoulders.
  
  

There are many more memories of them to write about and I could go on and on. But before I end, here’s putting these blokes in a small perspective for the joy they brought this game. The next WC will surely miss:

Sachin’s Masterplay and Lara’s Faultless Display
Inzy’s Serenity and Fleming’s Solidity
Ponting’s Brashness and McGrath’s Relentlessness
Kumble’s Perseverance and Pollock’s Consistence
Gilchrist’s Bashing and Jayasurya’s Thrashing
Gagnuly’s Off-side Divinity and Dravid’s Austerity!


The next WC is not going to be the same. As much as I’m digesting the departure of the Waugh Brothers, Justin Langer, Warne and Martyn, the departure of these players as and when it comes is most dreaded!

So here is what I’m going to do, sit back and enjoy them as long as they last and hope this WC brings out the best in all of them!

Lage Raho MunnaBhai

The difference between the two parts:

I went for MunnaBhai M.B.B.S.:

• Without reading any reviews
• Having seen no great hype
• Without any expectations.
  

I came out of the theatre adding one more movie to my all-time favourite list. A movie that made me smile and laugh over and over again. A rarity in today’s movie era

I went for Lage Raho MunnaBhai

• Without reading any reviews
• Having seen a far larger hype
• With loads of expectations

I came out of the theatre adding one more movie to my all-time favourite list.A movie that made me smile and laugh over and over again. A rarity in today’s movie era

I’m not going to reveal the story of the film; if I did, I would be doing grave injustice to Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra who have come up with another masterpiece. The trailers have not given away anything and please watch the movie to find out the connection between MunnaBhai and the great Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Thumbs up to Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra for carving a special niche and I can’t wait for MunnaBhai sequels to come our way.

Sanjay Dutt charms and Arshad Warsi sails through. Arshad Warsi must be one of the best actors in the industry today when it comes to comedy and its sense of timing. He has to be! The one-liners are as memorable as part one and boy, the writers have done a great job, it’s not easy to be so witty everytime.

Vidya Balan looks beautiful and do her eyes talk! She doesn’t have much to do but she still impresses. Boman Irani plays his role to perfection and I can’t find a flaw with this man. Most of the characters from part one play out various roles and to perfection. There are a few surprises which our extremely pleasant and some are well kept secrets; and we will let them be till every one has watched the movie. But if you all know who is my current favourite then you ought to know that I was very very glad that this person had a special appearance!

It was a great pleasure to see some veteran Marathi actors like Atmaram Bhende and Dilip Prabhavalkar adorn the stage here. The casting is almost perfect.

The only con (if you can find one) is the music, this time there is no ‘Dekh Le’ to hit the disco scenes but the songs are situational which are built in well. One song though does leave a mark. It is not the title track or the romantic one! I’ll leave that for you all to figure out once you have seen the movie.

• Without getting too serious Lage Raho MunnaBhai makes us think
• Without sounding pretentious it manages to convince us that things can still work if we follow his teachings
• Without getting too preachy it gets the message across to a nation that has fallen asleep; that it is only a matter of self belief

I would love to list out my favourite scenes and dialogues from the movie but that would amount to spoiling your fun and I don’t want to do that. So, here is one which everyone must have seen on their TV sets. When I saw it too, I told my husband that we have to see this movie first day first show….

‘Apun ke Birthday pe bhi Dry Day ho

Nahi, Nahi, Dry Day Nahi.’

Well Munna and Circuit, Tumhare Birthday Pe Hum Log Dry Day Kaise Rakhenge?

After all we are drunk on your antics!

Badi Suni Suni Hain…

My parents always complained when I was a kid that there weren’t any clean family movies around. (This when I was in school and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun was yet to hit the screens.) So I landed up catching most of these ‘old’ films (most released before I was born) on video at home and saw myself watching them a million times again. By some coincidence most of these lovable films came from a man by the name of Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Simplicity and real believable characters were always the highlight of his films. Probably why they always struck a chord with the people as they always identified with his characters.

• Anand with his cheerful approach to life even though he knew he would not be around for long
• Mili for her naughtiness, her innocence that made everyone around her love her
• Guddi for her infatuation and film fascination
• Subir and Uma’s trials and tribulations in Abhimaan affect us as much as them
• Bawarchi’s Raghu is one cook we all would love to have in our family and till today an inspiration for many Hindi movies
• Dr. Parimal Tripathi and his challenge to his wife to fool his brother-in-law in Chupke Chupke is still unsurpassed with its closest competitor being Ramprasad Sharma’s twin trick on his boss Bhavani Shankar in Golmaal
• And finally my favourite: Manju’s battle with Nirmala in Khoobsurat.

His movies always had melodious songs and with a lot of meaning. Here are some of my favourite ones:

• Dheere Dheere Machal from Anupama
• Woh Chand Khila from Anari
• Kahin Door Jab & Zindagi Kaise Hain Paheli from Anand
  
• All songs form Abhimaan, all of them!
• Bol Re Papihara from Guddi
• Badi Suni Suni Hain from Mili
• Sa re ga ma, ma sa re ga from Chupke Chupke
• Aanewala Pal and the Title track from Golmaal
• Piya Bawri and Sun Sun Sun Didi from Khoobsurat

All of them family movies. All about simple people who were leading simple lives. Movies woven out of day-to-day happenings, movies that made us smile and made us think as well. Movies that still cheer me up when I watch them. Movies that will never bore me or go out of style. Movies that will remain firmly etched in memory; with all moments that make me cry, make me smile, make me laugh my heart out and make me want a family just as those families there.

Hrishi Da you have left a void that no one can fill

Aapke bine yeh film industry badi suni suni ho gayi hain…

May you rest in peace and we will always miss you.

K-Jo will you ever say Good Bye?

I finally saw KANK. I don’t think Karan Johar is an exceptional director-producer. He is pretty much a little above average; for his films carry a classy look and he makes his actors look great even while they are sobbing most times.

• I liked his first film Kuch Kuch Hota Hain for Kajol alone
• K3G was nothing but 3 Kg. of sentimental crap
• Kal Ho Na Ho was my favorite K-Jo film and you know why; because it was one movie where not only did SRK not snatch the girl from someone else but also died! Awesome script!
• Kaal: For heaven’s sake let me not waste my blog over it
• But I will for KANK.

A lot has been written on this movie so here are my two wise cents as well. So before I dissect it, I will first put up what I liked about the movie, there were parts which were good but, they are not worth spending your money in the theatre for it.

Abhishek Bachchan: He was awesome in the movie, the only one whose character was well defined. I loved his outburst scenes and he was the only one who brought a tear in my eye in the whole movie. Go watch it for him; he has style, charisma and panache. Way to go AB’s Baby.

Preity Zinta: She probably should’ve got more screen time. I quite liked her as Rhea. I also thought the scene in which Dev reveals about his affair with Maya, her reaction was dignified. No ‘Rona Dhona’ (crying), no hysterics, controlled, mature, restrained and at the end a well-deserved tight slap. Well done woman!

The Songs: Well choreographed and well picturised. I loved Rani’s sans jewellery look in 'Tumhi Dekho Na' and the stars were dressed very well except Big B.

The Dialogues: A dialogue that caught my attention. Rani discloses her affair to Abhishek; he reacts hysterically, only to ask her later, “Did you sleep with him, Maya? How was it, was it fun for you?"

I did not see this coming in an Indian movie. We see it often in English serials and movies but not as a serious dialogue so upfront in an Indian movie. It was such a natural reaction on the part of a husband who has been waiting for his wife to love him back.

Finally I simply loved the dialogue Amitabh says on his death bed to Abhishek. It just stuck in my head, “Any message for mom?” That was beautiful.

And now let the disappointments begin:

The concept was interesting, the execution disappointing. K-Jo is not Ekta Kapoor in whose serials every man has to have two wives atleast and every woman two husbands at least. Brothers exchange wives and the kids that come in after leaps and leaps could create a whole new show for Ekta with the title ‘Guess My Parent’. If we tolerate her crap then K-JO’s movie is so much more sensible, I’m just giving a perspective.

Here is why I think the movie fails to capture the audience’s vote. The foundation for Dev and Maya’s drift from their respective marriages and attraction towards each other is weak. It felt like a college attraction where I’m seeing a guy but, I’m not sure if I love him. So, if I find my soul mate I can bid him good-bye! Marriage is the same as some teenage love? I like blue, do you? Yes you do; let’s get together because we are soul mates. We do not feel empathy at all towards the main protagonists Dev and Maya.

Dev is a grumpy old soul and it should’ve been Rhea divorcing him in the first place for the crap he kept dishing out to her. Love can make you do silly things and that is why Rhea chose to stay in the marriage with Dev! SRK was his irritating self. The only times I liked him was in his first serial Fauji as Abhimanyu Rai (What a heartthrob he was for us school girls).Then Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge ( He brought Raj alive and that year I did not mind Aamir's Munna losing out to him at the awards). Of late Swades, I caught that movie on TV here in Dubai and I could not stop raving about SRK. His portrayal of Mohan Bhargava was so real. But he has to come back to his irritating self and that’s what he was doing again in KANK! Sometimes I wonder if he is the same person.

Maya and Rishi’s marriage was a big mystery to me. Here is a guy you chose to marry; no one forced it on you. Here is a guy who loves you no end and yet you feel nothing for him. What’s worst she is not even keen to try to make her marriage work. Rishi is right when he says, ‘All that you keep thinking about is leaving and me about staying in this marriage’. Weak, weak, weak! Maya’s character was the most weakest of the four. Simply no premise for her disappointments in life or for the actions she took later. You take an actress like Rani Mukherjee and give her a Maya, boy you are making a mockery of her, especially after Black. And did I read somewhere that her role in KANK surpasses the one in Black, whoever said that was ‘Definitely on Drugs’!

I’m not mentioning anything about Amitabh Bachchan because I was extremely disappointed with him. What made him take up this role? If he still loves his wife so much then what’s with the skirt chasing act? Never mind, most of the things that occur in the film have little or no explanations.

So here is my take, I have strongly believed that divorce is not a taboo and if a marriage is not working, walk out before it ends you; but only after both have tried to really make it work. In KANK, there were only two people who wanted to make an effort for their marriage to work and they were not married to each other. Dev and Maya had nothing but only a negative attitude towards it. I don’t think KJO managed to pull off that every person is grey with pros and cons, I felt at the end that Rishi and Rhea came out more positive than the main protagonists Dev and Maya.

If Dev and Maya felt they were stuck in wrong marriages and were doing the right thing they should’ve come clean to their spouses and not feel ashamed of their deed, be forthright, seek a divorce and get together. But KJO stuck to his traditional roots and made them suffer and think they were wrong. Another weak link in the story. So much that they punished themselves for three whole years and moved ahead only when their respective spouses had found a new life. Rhea and Rishi on learning that their exes were living unhappy, lonely lives went ahead and got them together. Man that was too much for me to digest. Too much of a happy ending which does not always happen in real life! Maybe he could’ve opted for Rhea leading her life along with her son and being highly successful. Why the need to show that companionship is a necessity in life? Such experiences could also throw people off marriage, it happens in real life.

But that’s KJO and he has to see everyone happy right, be with their true loves….

Phew, as you can see I’m relaxing at home and hence the time to pen down a long review. I was terribly bored for more than 3 hours yesterday, so can I not share it with you all?

Finally, did someone tell me this was the most awaited movie of the year? I think not.

Two people who made India smile and keep doing it everytime they come on TV; are back again to make us laugh a whole lot more. I’m dying to see this one this week. That’s how movies should be; light hearted with a message. We lead such high tension lives these days that we do need a Munnabhai and Circuit to make us smile. KJO, we really could do without crying:-) Think about it…

Chaat Fever and a Farce called Dahi Wada …

Being away from Mumbai the one thing you miss the most is the roadside food. The ‘Chaat’ by which I mean Bhel Puri, Sev Puri, Pani Puri , Dahi Batata Puri , Ragda Pattice and Mumbai’s lifeline the ‘Vada Pav’.

Dubai serves excellent food in all cuisines but what I miss the most is my Mumbai roadside food. Yes I’ve suffered from over eating out too (jaundice struck in the second year of MBA) but you simply can’t resist it!

Ours is a neat group of 5 couples here who get together every weekend and most of the times we go out trying out new restaurants. However this time around we decided to be home and have a nice ‘Chaat’ evening. The menu was:

• Pani puri
• Dahi Batata Puri
• Bhel Puri
• Sev Puri
• Dabeli
• Vada pav.

My mouth was already watering when we were discussing the menu. I took up to prepare Vada Pav cause I had my grandmom’s recipe for it and which is as good as the ones you get in Mumbai. Each family picked up a dish or two. We all were done and gathered at one of the couple’s place for the night. We knew this would be a night to remember but for me it really turned out a night that I will remember for the rest of my life.

I’m new to the group as I’ve recently moved here and H had all along kept bragging about how he makes the most amazing Dahi Wadas in this world. Dahi Wadas are my weak point so everytime we met; and he brought up the topic, I used to pester him to make it once. Since this was a ‘Chaat’ evening he decided to put to test his culinary skills on us as well.

As we were getting ready to set up the goodies H insisted we try the Dahi Wadas first. I was keen we have it as dessert later but he insisted that if you find them good I can make more later as I was not sure how they would turn out. Now I could not resist this offer and I said fine serve it first. Anyways I’m dying to eat them, I had caught a glimpse in the fridge and they looked delicious.

I was the first one to try it, I wanted to have a little bit first but he insisted I take up the whole Wada. So there I obliged again. I put in my mouth and suddenly it seemed different, why was I not able to chew the god damn Wada and why was it tasting soggy. The other two ladies were trying to break the vadas into small pieces but could not. Now, the nice little thing that I’m, I did not say anything at the first instance thinking H might have made some mistake and it would be so rude to comment on his favorite dish in his house.

But then again I saw his wife S smiling and I knew what it was, it was no Dahi Wada it was a god damn cotton ball!!! Out everything came and I kept shouting its tissue, its paper, and the other ladies who had not tried it held their hands back and everyone burst into laughter.

Now everyone there had been the victim of this trick and since I was the new entrant I was the latest one! I wish I had clicked a snap to show you all how delicious they looked and how atrocious they tasted!!

I’ve had many a pranks played on me and been quite a target in my college days with my friends one cause I was really naïve and secondly cause they thought I was pretty sporting about it in the endJ, but this one really took the cake and the icing and everything one can think of!!

I did not stop laughing the whole night and kept pulling H’s leg over it again and again by checking twice whatever he offered me to eat. Others joined me too and by the end of it H commented, “Minal I think you are so shocked now that even when you are dying I think you’ll refuse water from me and cross check it before drinking it!”

Well H & S I don’t think I will do that, but I did learn a few things yesterday.

• Things are not what they seem to be
• Greed never does anyone good
• Friends like you all make me miss my home and family a little less
• The next few years here in Dubai will be enjoyable ones cause I have you all around

Cheers to a fun evening and many more to come…

Featured in DNA India...

A little bit of recognition is always welcome:-)And if they pick up my favourite topic and my favourite sportsman its like an icing on the cake for me;-)

'

DNA featured my article on Sparing Sachin here.

You bet I'm happy:-)

A night to remember the Great Mohd Rafi...

One of the advantages of having your husband in the marketing field is that you get invited to various events. I was lucky this time around to be with him and go for a lovely musical evening.

A local radio channel here plays only old Hindi music from the golden era of 50s-70s. Everyday you get to hear the lovely melodies of Lata-Asha-Geeta Dutt-Rafi-Kishore Kumar- Mukesh-Manna Dey- OP Nayyar-SD Burman.

On 31st July, the radio channel had organized a night to mark the death anniversary of the great legend Mohd. Rafi. The melody, the romance, the pain, the sorrow, Rafi brought out all emotions so well and I’m not exaggerating when I say there is an enchanting sweetness in his voice. I say ‘is’ because even though he may have left for the heavenly abode 26 years ago, he still lives on among us through his songs.

To pay a tribute to him, the channel had a contest called Echoes of Rafi which invited people to sing their favorite Rafi songs. After multiple rounds and auditions, 5 people were selected as finalists and the final contest was to take place that night.

The place was houseful even though this event was for invitees only. The five people all from varied background, one was a chauffer for a hotel, one worked in private financial firm, one had participated in a singing contest for the very first time.

In addition to these 5 finalists the team members of the channel performed on Rafi’s songs as well. One was the program head, one was the production manager and one was a RJ with the channel. Man are people talented, I mean not only do they do their regular jobs well but to go and sing Rafi’s song as well, I think that is awesome and I really do admire people who are multi-talented.

The contest went on smoothly being anchored by the channel’s most popular RJ and boy was his Hindi fantastic! Mine isn’t that great (I am not proud of that fact either) and I kept troubling my husband to understand a few words that were obviously 1000 miles above my understanding levels.

The first guy started with ‘Pukarta chala hoon mein’, the next three came up with songs that I had not heard before and the last guy sang ‘Tere aankhon ke siva’ If only there was a contest for ‘Guess the winner’, I would have won hands down. I bet with my husband on the first guy and he won! He was a simple man, a chauffer with a hotel and he was so overcome with emotion. The one good thing about these contests and reality shows is they give every one an equal chance. Al that matters is your talent and nothing else.

In between the songs, the channels RJ quizzed the audience on Rafi and sadly the one question to which I knew the answer to, the RJ never saw me lift my hand:-(The loss was huge – A 3Cd pack of Rafi’s hits.

More than my husband, I’m the one who loves musical evenings and henceforth for future shows he doesn’t have much of a choice to not attend them!

The music from the golden era is simply soothing to your mind. You just have to forget the world and drown yourself in the songs. The songs from the golden era have a magical feel about them and you can but help get lost in them.

As for my favorite Rafi no. it is ‘Abhi na jao chod kar’ from Hum Dono. Kishore Kumar is definitely my favourite singer of all times but this number by Rafi-Asha is on the top of my all-time favourites list. It is so romantic that every time I hear it, I lose myself completely. You got to hear it to understand what I mean.

So till I go for another musical evening I’m leaving with you the first few lines of my favourite Rafi number. Would you want to tell me yours?

Abhi na jao chodkar
Ke dil abhi bhara nahi

Abhi na jao chodkar
Ke dil abhi bhara nahi

Abhi abhi to aai ho
Abhi abhi to..
Abhi abhi to aai ho
Bahar ban ke chayi ho
Hawa jara mehek to le
Nazar jara behek to le

Yeh sham dhal to le jara
Yeh dil sambhal to le jara
Mein thodi der jee to lu
Nashe ke ghont pi to lu
Nashe ke ghont pi to lu

Abhi to kuch kaha nahi
Abhi to kuch suna nahi

Abhi na jao chodkar
Ke dil abhi bhara nahi

How could I?

I'm finding it real hard to forgive myself.

Earlier, when I was working and prior to that busy with my studies I always managed to find time to watch the game, if I couldn't, I managed to pacify myself by saying that I was doing something important.

However to miss these two matches when I'm on a break and at home, is simply unpardonable!!

How could I be so blind!

Are we not done humiliating him?

Now what did Saurav Ganguly do so special that he got through the 30 probables this time? His selection was based on his performance throughout the last year! The reasons the selectors can come up with on dropping and picking Saurav. God give me a break from them!

I really wish the selectors would stop playing with him now. When he deserved one chance they snatched everything from him and now when he has not played well at all, he gets a place in the 30!

As for you Saurav they will never pick you in the final 15, so forget it , quit now with some dignity! Just forget the whole thing and move on!

This is madness....

Love...

A thousand promises for you I hold,
Each as pure as the first drop of dew,
Love me once, and a deeper meaning of love,
I'll reveal to you,

I'll be the picture that you'll paint of love,
On the twilight skies I'll be your soul,
I'll be the vision,
of hopes and dreams in your eyes,

And if there be a darkness to your life,
I'll be the warmth of the morning ray,
I'll be the comfort that you'll return to,
At the end of a long weary day,

And I promise you, that I'll love you,
The way you have never been loved before.
And with each day that you love me,
You'll know, that I love you even more.

Sigh!! This one not only brightened my day today but will brighten every day henceforth. What a lovely surprise from my husband today;-)

Selection Process

If you have a bunch of kids around; not aged more than 6-7 you get to hear some priceless pieces.

Here is one:

My little nephew T, all of 4 years, was waiting for an invitation to his neigbour's daughter's birthday party. The little girl walked up to him and said,'T tomorrow is my birthday party and you are selected for it!'

Her parents , T's parents and we two were stunned and burst into laughter.
Yes kids surely say the darnest things!

Sparing Sachin...

Sachin Tendulkar is a unique person in every sense. Everything he has done on and off the field exemplifies his uniqueness. He has been India’s wonderboy, heartthrob, kamikaze kid, saviour, knight in shining armour etc. As much as his batting is unique so have been his dismissals and also the criticism he has faced.

Don’t you ever wonder that Sachin Tendulkar must be thinking what it is that I must do now after 17 years of international cricket , more than 100 tests and 350 ODIS, so that the critics simply shut their traps!

Take the recent article by Sanjay Manjrekar on him. Read it and try to figure out what message Manjrekar is trying to send to all of us.

• Is he trying to doubt Sachin’s commitment to the game?
• Is he trying to accuse him of faking injures?
• Is he trying to say that Sachin puts self before team and country?
• Is he trying to tell us that Sachin is in his own world thinking that he is still the 16 yr old kid who recently made his debut?
• Is he trying to cast doubts on Sachin’s integrity to himself, team and the country?
  

What is he indeed trying to tell us?

I can’t believe that Sanjay Manjrekar, Sachin’s good friend for a long time would write such a column. How can anyone doubt this man’s integrity and commitment?
A man who has always stood out like a shining star and a ray of hope for many when India used be down in the dumps; a man who has inspired the current generation of Indian cricket.

You question the integrity of the person who landed back two days after his fathers demise to be a part of his team in the 1999 world cup campaign; he who scored a century on his return despite being ín mourning. Please don’t tell me that it’s easy to recover from the loss of a parent’s death, you rarely do. That gesture of Sachin only proved his rock-solid determination and dedication to his country and team.

In the 1999 Chennai Test, he was in brutal pain due to his back but he did not give up without a fight. Agreed he could not get us a victory but what a single-handed fighting innings that was.
Remember the ’98 season Vs Australia; he demolished them at home in the test series and in Sharjah.
He played an important role in the 2001 Aus series at home and later down under in 2003.
The 2003 world cup belonged to him and it was our bad luck that we did not win against the Aussies.

The man has single handedly led India’s fightback before the young guns fired under the Ganguly-Dravid combination. Until the recent England series there was not a single series that had gone by without him getting a hundred in a series. Yes he has had his drawbacks, limitations and failures. He has even candidly admitted on TV in his 30th birthday show with Harsha Bhogle that he does have a regret of not having carried India to more wins single-handedly as much as he would have liked to.

We just forget that the guy is human after all. And after all these years we are still ahead to doubt this man’s commitment to the game?

He is faking injuries so that he does not fail. Which wise man has told you cricketers to play with injuries or semi-fit? Whom does it help? No one, the individual suffers as his injury could aggravate and could end his career prematurely, and the team suffers as the player is not 100% fit. How can you, Mr. Manjrekar then even suggest that Sachin should play carrying injuries? You want him to end his career prematurely. I do believe that the guy has 4 years of good cricket left in him.

You yourself say that one cannot judge a persons seriousness regarding injuries, aren’t you exactly contradicting yourself by doing so in your article? None of us except Sachin and his doctor know what his body is going trough and no one but him is a better judge to know when he can play. You and I can opine but ultimately he will decide. And one more thing is he not showing more commitment by opting to stay out when he is not 100 % fit and cannot give his best to the team?

Sachin Tendulkar is an extremely intelligent cricketer. He knows his statistics by heart, he can narrate the manner of each of his dismissals and the bowlers who got him out. He knows the game is changing, he knows his position and role in the team is changing. That’s why we rarely get to see the aggressive Sachin of old days with the adrenalin rush in his body when he bats. He has calmed down and realizes that his presence on the wicket means much more to the team, hence he is slowly curbing his shots, his body is also not assisting but he is making efforts to work around it.

So Mr. Sanjay Manjrekar what made you write that article? Has your Ten Sports colleague Rameez Raja been influencing you? It would help if you acted more under the Aussie influence where they lay prime importance on fitness of a player and commitment to the game. Ask them their opinion on this issue about Sachin or for that matter ask the entire cricketing world! How could you pen this article?

Don’t criticize Sachin for the sake of doing so! I’m glad Sachin lashed out unlike most times sitting quiet and ignoring.

Mr. Sanjay don’t commit the mistake of unnecessarily criticizing this fellow, he is a true gem, with all his flaws and drawbacks he is still the best in the world and very few compare to him as a player and as a human being.

Here is a nice forward I had received when I was working after my engineering and hope all his critics including you get a message there

This is what Sachin’s messenger had to say to all of us:

This is interesting
I never judged any software engineers by the number of defects they delivered
I never commented on your activity reports
I didn’t get into your grading or banding details
Than why do you all keep discussing, judging and commenting on me all day long
I’m currently at the practice nets getting fit for my next series.
You are at your work desks, you are supposed to work
So please do so and spare me for heaven’s sake

Movies in Dubai…

Since moving to Dubai there is not much I’ve been upto. The house was set up in fifteen odd days. It was an absolutely enjoyable and satisfying experience. Seriously it’s indeed a great joy to do the little things and set up your house from scratch. For me it was also hassle free. Like it take it, that’s my husband’s attitude while I prefer to hunt down a dozen stores before being satisfied that I picked up the best deal!

After the house was done I decided to take the much needed break and relax in my new house. The cooking is also turning out decent and fortunately I feel I’ve inherited my granny and mom’s genes in cooking! I never imagined I would be doing this in my entire life but a couple of months of a drastic change in your life sure does seem helpful!

Books, music and TV keep me good company the whole day and weekends are the best what with outings to new places with friends and yes movies! Life back home had got hectic with my workload and husband’s constant travel that I could not recollect the last time we caught movies so often. And here it’s completely opposite; if not the theatre we catch some good movies in TV or DVDs.

A few ones I caught up with

Crash:

I was dying to see this Oscar winning movie and we got the DVD home. It’s a fine picture and full credit to the Academy for giving it the best film Oscar. Crash is a story of day-to-day life in America, about different people from different backgrounds: Racial, financial and professional, it’s about prejudices and fears. The stories are inter-mingled where the people cross each other’s path.

It concentrates on LA, USA but every one of us will identify with the characters. It’s a movie that makes us think. The Whites have their own prejudices against the Blacks and vice-versa. Asian Muslims are looked with suspicion post the 9/11 attacks, the Persians try hard to convince they are not the same as Arabs. Everyone seeking to prove a point and protect their identities.

Crash raises a lot of questions through the stories and tries to tell us that there is a good and a bad side to every person.

• What do you do when the person who molested you is the one to risk his life to save yours?
• What do you do when the same person watches injustice done to you quietly is the same person who stands up for you another time?
• What do you do when the person whom you constantly ill-treated based on his/her nationality is the first to be there for you when you need help the most?
• What do you do when you kill a person thinking he was going to kill you only to discover he was innocent?
• What do you do when your mother blames you for your brother going astray the wrong way?
• What do you do when all your life you have been stealing and this time life offers you the chance to save a few lives?
• What do you do when you are robbed of everything you own and end up blaming the one person who had tried to warn and help you?
• What do you do when the little daughter runs in to protect her father who you are about to shoot down?

What would you do? That’s what Crash tries to answer and in some cases leaves it for us to find the answers.
As Graham, the cop puts it, ''It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something."

It’s a must see movie. I suggest you do the same if you have not seen it yet.

The Ron Clark Story:

This is a movie that I caught umpteen times on Star movies here. The story is of a School Teacher Ron Clark and how he turns around a class of rowdy, ill-mannered kids to bring them to the top honors in their exams. The way he established a trust with the kids, the way he gets them to love studies, the way he builds their confidence, the way he makes them believe that they are winners and not losers as proclaimed by one and all. How he helps them fight the odds at home and simply become winners and discover their hidden talents on the way. A lovely film and Mathew Perry is surprisingly lovable in the role of Ron Clark. He is easy-going and goes through his act effortlessly. I was real glad to see him in a different role other than his Chandler Bing acts.
Another must watch movie.

Fanaa:

Caught this in the first week of its release here. Two of my favorite actors in it and I was surely not going to miss it. Kajol was her old self and Aamir a pleasure to watch. But the storyline was simply ok, there was nothing great in it and had it not been for the lead duo I’m not sure it would’ve been as successful. The songs were decent and I’m pretty sure Kajol’s kurtis and skirts are going to be rage in India soon. At the end of the movie I felt that I could have easily waited for the VCD to hit the video library or the movie to be shown on a TV channel.

And one more thing I can't keep watching Aamir die in back-to-back releases this year!

The Da Vinci Code:

In one sentence it’s never easy to make a movie from a book. Read the book and stick to your own imagination.

Phir Hera Pheri:

The sole reason to watch this movie: Paresh Rawal. It’s not as good as the first one but this man has you in splits with his dialogues and antics. Catch it on the VCD/DVD. This man rocks!

Yet to watch:
Golmaal
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man’s Chest
Corporate
Superman Returns.


So that’s it folks, with laptop on board now, looks like blogging will be fairly regular! Cricket will be the next, longtime since I wrote about it!

Remembering the Brave Martyrs

Remembering the martyrs

Today, India will observe a two minute silence to remember all those who lost their lives in the recent Mumbai blasts. I can’t recollect the last time the nation came together to do so for victims of terror.

It’s been a week and it still hurts. I thought I could put down my feelings in a day or two but could not. There was anger at those who committed this ruthless crime, sadness for the families who lost their loved ones, admiration for the people who came forth to help people at the blasts sites and the ones stranded on the road, pride for the railways people who got back the services on track within 7 hours, and applause for the city to get back on its feet the next day.

I kept thinking if there is any way to prevent these acts of terror? But even with the highest security force in place I don’t think we can! We simply can’t. The ’93 blasts, then the Ghatkopar and Gateway of India in between and these serial blasts last week. Everytime we were hit we have got back on our feet. Do we really have a choice there? What should we do, sit at home frightened and not go back to leading our regular lives?

Is that possible and what do those terrorists achieve? Victory? Victory over whom? Victory for what purpose? Killing innocents , killing the unarmed, attacking from the back! Acts of terror? Nope acts of sheer cowardice. Yes that’s what they have proved time and again when they have attacked innocents. They have failed to bring the life in a city to standstill or to scare the people, so what are they achieving?

The trains are the lifeline of Mumbai and the hour when they were attacked was the peak rush hour. The Western line was my line when I was in Mumbai. I took the same trains daily back home; the very trains that were attacked. A friend of mine was in one of those trains, she was lucky she survived the attack but some weren’t. My husband’s school mate died in the blasts and I can’t imagine what his family must’ve gone through, just like numerous others who lost their dear ones in the blasts. The pictures on the news did not stop haunting me for days.

I felt so helpless. Sitting away from home all I could do was call up and find out if everyone I knew was doing fine. On the news I saw little kids come out on the streets and help the stranded. Women offer food and the elderly offer all the assistance they could at the hospitals, on the roads and at the blasts sites. The blood banks were overflowing within hours of the attack. In every possible way people helped and it moved me.

It is a city I’m extremely fond of because I’ve spent my entire life there. Its spirit is indomitable and it is undying. At times we do get caught up in our own affairs, you see there is no time to look around; but in times of calamity the people always have held each other’s hands and those idiot terrorists are not going to win ever.

Everyone is a survivor and if it were any other city they would’ve fought back in the same manner as Mumbai did.

I hope the intelligence agencies and police bring forth the perpetrators of this crime sooner than later and a repeat of ’93 case does not recur in this case.

All those who died in the blasts will be brave martyrs and I join in to remember them in silence. I hope we can try in every possible way to ensure that their sacrifice won’t be a waste.

Sabbatical…

I did not intend to take such a long sabbatical without leaving a message on the blog; tremendous workload and a huge change in my life made it impossible for me to update my blog regularly. The unexpected happens to you when you least expect it and that’s exactly what happened. My husband had to move to Dubai for a long term on work and after much contemplation I decided to shift too.

I have moved away:

• From my mumma, and my family,
• From my country, from my dear Mumbai city,
• From the trains and BEST buses and the tiring travel,
• From the dirt, the pollution and the chaos,
• From the roadside snacks: vada pav and pani puri,
• From the late night film shows and the crazy malls,
• From hours spent long at Barista and the walks down Worli-sea face,
• From night-outs with friends spent gossiping and dreaming about the future,
• From family get-togethers and being hounded by hundreds of relatives,
• From the crowded and chaotic weddings,
• From daily chai-snacks at the office canteen with friends,
• From discussing books and movies with friends and the debates and arguments that followed it,
• From the numerous smiles at home and office that made every day of mine special,
• From mumma and ma-in-law’s constant advices to do some cooking,
• From their constant care about me and my health,
• From the tasty food both cooked for me every day of my life there,
• From the crazy fun bickering with my dear sis-in-law,
• From the pampering from my aai and papa,
• From the amazing love this lovely place and its people had showered on me in all the years I spent there

I never thought I would and I did. The first week here was the worst in my life. I cried and cried missing everything about home, family and my comfort zone. I made my husband feel so awful and I’m really sorry for that. All my cousins and friends went through the same emotions that I did and they really helped me get comfortable in the new place!

Now a new life and experience awaits me here and I plan to make the most of it. I look forward to:

• Making a good career,
• Making new friends,
• Setting up my own house,
• Owning my kitchen,
• Doing some great cooking,
• Driving my car,
• Enjoying our life,
• Visiting new places,
• Shopping a lot in this shopping heaven;-)
• Taking back loads and loads of great memories when I move back home.

But for now let me settle down and begin to enjoy this new home…

P.S:This blog will be updated more regularly henceforth!